On Tuesday’s “Today,” Megyn Kelly delivered a personal monologue about Charlie Rose — whose career implode Monday after a Washington Post report that eight women accused him of sexual misconduct between the 1990s and 2011.
Kelly said Rose was a friend and that it was a hard story for her to report, then revealed a personal moment she had with Rose that left her angry and that she said was a harbinger of things to come.
“Last November, my book came out. I asked Charlie to emcee my very first book event,” she said. “It was supposed to be a celebratory event discussing the full scope of the book which is about my life and my career and the lessons learned.”
“The exchange felt to me like a cross-examine, focused on one issue, the book’s sexual harassment allegations against [former Fox News head] Roger Ailes, allegations Ailes denied but which I know are true because I lived it. I felt defensive in the exchange with Charlie and wound up angry with how he handled my book event. Obviously now his behavior makes more sense.”
Kelly then said she kept silent and ultimately ended up just sending Rose a bottle of wine — leading her audience to break out into awkward applause.
“No no, I’m making a different point,” she said. “The reason I sent him the wine and the thank you note was because I believed it was better to be nice, I believed it was better not to express my anger or upset.”
Kelly then said that was the wrong approach and that “sharp elbows” and “holding the powerful to account” was “the only way forward” for women in the future.
It was a powerful moment for a show that has often struggled to connect with viewers since Kelly’s transition from Fox News.
The segment was the latest in a cascade of disastrous news for Rose, who was promptly dropped from his perch at “CBS This Morning” on Monday. In addition to that, PBS and Bloomberg told TheWrap that they would cease distribution of his eponymous program “The Charlie Rose Show.”
Rose apologized for his conduct in a statement on Twitter.
Watch above.